Wall Street ends flat on mixed jobs data

By Ellis Mnyandu

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks flip-flopped throughout Friday's session, with the major indexes ending split as investors paused to consider conflicting signals in monthly U.S. jobs data.

Investors also sold some recent winners to take some profits from the spring rally, which has driven the S&P 500 up almost 40 percent from its 12-year closing low on March 9.

Trading was choppy as the stock market initially started higher and then drifted lower as investors reassessed the implications of the latest jobs report.

The Labor Department reported that employers cut 345,000 jobs in May -- substantially less than analysts had forecast -- but the U.S. unemployment rate hit 9.4 percent, its highest since 1983.

The data underscored that the U.S. economic picture remained uncertain even after some recent signs of improvement.

"There was a mixed bag from the economic news," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Ohio-based Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"Initially people saw the 345,000 number and everyone got a little excited, then realized the unemployment rate was worse than expected, and there's the fact that it's Friday and the sellers took advantage to take some profits."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 12.89 points, or 0.15 percent, to 8,763.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX declined 2.37 points, or 0.25 percent, to 940.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC dipped 0.60 of a point, or 0.03 percent, to 1,849.42.